Judges 18:5

Judges 18:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
• New International Version (NIV)Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And they said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”

Context of Judges 18:5

3When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this [place]? and what hast thou here? 4And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah done to me; and he has hired me, and I am his priest. And they said to him, Inquire, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way on which we go shall be prosperous. 6And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way on which ye go. 7And the five men departed, and came to Laish; and they saw the people that were therein, dwelling securely, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and no one was in the land who possessed authority, that might put [them] to shame in anything; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had nothing to do with [any] man.

Judges 18:5 word by word

וַיֹּ֥אמְרוּ ל֖וֹ שְׁאַל־נָ֣א בֵאלֹהִ֑ים וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔ה הֲתַצְלִ֣יחַ דַּרְכֵּ֔נוּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנַ֖חְנוּ הֹלְכִ֥ים עָלֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear

• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
• goהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980

Cross-references for Judges 18:5

• 1 Kings 22:5And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, this day of the word of Jehovah.
• 2 Kings 16:15And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening oblation, and the king's burnt-offering, and his oblation, and the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their oblation, and their drink-offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offerings, and all the blood of the sacrifices; and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire [by].
• Isaiah 30:1Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of me, and who make leagues, but not by my Spirit, that they may heap sin upon sin;
• Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh [his] arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.
• Hosea 4:12My people ask counsel of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God:
• Acts 8:10To whom they had all given heed, from small to great, saying, This is the power of God which is called great.
• Judges 18:14Then the five men that had gone to spy out the country of Laish spoke and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? And now ye know what to do.
• Judges 17:5And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

Commentaries on Judges 18:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Ask counsel - of God - As the Danites use the word אלהים Elohim here for God, we are necessarily led to believe that they meant the true God; especially as the Levite answers, Judges 18:6, Before the Lord (יהוה Yehovah ) is your way. Though the former word may be sometimes applied to idols, whom their votaries clothed with the attributes of God; yet the latter is never applied but to the true God alone. As the Danites succeeded according to the oracle…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The sight of the ephod and teraphim suggested the notion of inquiring of God.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6The Lord had promised Dan land in the southwest, but they had not taken it (see Judges 1:34; Joshua 19:40–48). Now they sought God's blessing from a hired priest. This priest's "blessing," like Micah's mother's (Judges 17:2), sounded religious but had no basis in Israel's covenant with the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-261-6. In those days ... the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in--The Danites had a territory assigned them as well as the other tribes. But either through indolence, or a lack of energy, they did not acquire the full possession of their allotment, but suffered a considerable portion of it to be wrested out of their hands by the encroachments of their powerful neighbors, the Philistines. In consequence, being straitened for room, a considerable…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 18:5

• Armies
• Jonathan
• Reconnoissance

In the dictionaries

• God
• Ask
• Magic
• Micah
• Quiet
• Teraphim
• Dan (1); Dan, Tribe of
• Dan (2)
• Intercession
• Israel, History of

Commentaries on Judges 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary